Carson Daly Says He "Actually Feels Bad" About His 'Today' Show Haircut Prank

Carson Daly channeled his inner prankster when it came time to give himself a haircut while in quarantine — and boy did he startle his Today show co-stars and viewers at home.

On Wednesday's Today show, we watched as Carson took hair clippers to his head while getting virtual guidance from celebrity stylist Chris Appleton. But due to technical difficulties, Carson ended up having to do the haircut without a visual step-by-step from Chris, which made Al Roker, Hoda Kotb, and Savannah Guthrie super nervous (and Craig Melvin bust out laughing). Just take a look at their faces:

Photo credit: NBC

Unfortunately, the segment ended before viewers were able to see the end result. Being the funny guy that he is though, Carson decided to have a little fun by tricking folks into thinking that the below photo showcased the finished product:

"I think we did pretty good! 😂Thanks to @chrisappleton1 for walking my son & I thru the self haircutting process this am live on @todayshow 😳," he wrote alongside a photoshopped picture of himself.

When the same snapshot showed up on the Today show, Savannah, Hoda, Craig, and Al couldn't believe it. "No ... Did he really?" Hoda said out loud before Savannah asked Carson to explain the picture. Turns out, it was fake.

"My 11-year old [son, Jackson] was the one who said, 'Dad, people are going to want to know what it looks like.' So he goes, 'It would be funny if we posted a picture of you bald,'" Carson explained. "So we found an app, we doctored up the picture, I show it to [my wife] Siri, Siri's like 'Ah, that's terrible, no one's going to believe that' ... we post it, everybody in my life ... thought it was real."

And so, Carson had to walk back his post with another one on Instagram.

"I actually feel bad😂 I never thought anyone would think it’s real. Turns out, literally, everyone did! It was fun to laugh for most of the day...nice break from reality. Thanks everyone! @todayshow," he wrote on a post showing off his real haircut.

Of course, there were plenty of viewers who found Carson's joke to be hilarious. "Could have been the perfect April Fools joke!," one fan commented on the post. "Well played, Carson!! Well played 👏," another fan declared. Others, meanwhile, straight-up admitted that they fell for it. "I absolutely thought it was real!," a commenter said. "Omg you fooled me 👏🏻🤣🤣," another wrote.

Photo credit: Instagram

Photo credit: Instagram

Photo credit: Instagram

And to top it all off, there were quite a few who actually really liked the bald look. "Omg you look different but I love it. Still handsome as ever," one fan wrote on photo of Carson bald. "Wow!!!! Awesome. U look great," another declared.